Regional & Rural

Regional and Rural Railways have been and still are very important in New South Wales.

Many country towns grew with the expansion of the Railways. The XPT from Sydney to Melbourne takes about twelve hours. At least passengers do not have to get off and change at Albury.

Why can’t trains travel from Sydney to Melbourne in four hours? Japan has their ‘bullet’ train that operates at speeds of 450 km/hr. Governments should upgrade all Regional and Rural Railway lines so passengers can choose between a slower service and a high speed train.

IMSARR would like to know why passengers cannot commute from Sydney to Melbourne by train in four hours.Former Prime Minister Bob Hawke in the 1980’s decided not to proceed with a Very Fast Train (VFT) from Sydney to Canberra. At least that would have got Federal Members’ and Senators’ to Parliament very quickly.

Former Prime Minister John Howard allowed for the construction of the long awaited Alice Springs to Darwin (Palmerston) Railway.

Regional & Rural Line Budgeting And Planning

Railway Lines that are currently Branch Lines would be extended to connect to other lines that makes these lines more economically viable.

Train Drivers, Guards and Platform Staff will all gain more employment as a result.

As the rail network expands so too will patronage levels that will ensure that wages remains at the same or even lower percentage level as it is now.

Transport Department needs to have a Budget equal to that of Health and Education.

Transport Budget needs to be:

75% for Planning and Construction.

25% for Wages.

IMSARR supports the upgrade and expansion of the Sydney Metropolitan Railways.

IMSARR also supports the upgrade of our Regional and Rural Railways throughout New South Wales.

Some people think that our country Railways could be privatised. Indeed many services are now operated by coaches. Had our Regional and Rural Railways been upgraded then many Country Link services would still be performed by trains and not coaches.

The Blue Mountains and the Great Dividing Range has always posed a challenge to Transport planners. The boring equipment exists to improve our Railways to the West of New South Wales. If London can build their underground network in 1863 with far less advanced machinery than available today and if the Epping to Chatswood and Airport Railways can be built with modern tunneling equipment, why can’t we upgrade the Railway lines to Regional and Rural New South Wales?

With the rush to build Metro Rail for Sydney, where does the upgrade of our Regional and Rural Railways lie? IMSARR supports Railway upgrade and expansion and not Metro Rail.

While under reconstruction/realignment, some of these railway lines would be closed to rail traffic and all services replaced by buses during the period of the works.

If necessary, the relocation of whole railway stations, which has occurred in the past, may have to occur as part of the reconstruction /realignment programme.